Lost
by fivenames
Summary: Maria Blackwood lost everything when the world ended. Completely cut off from her family and friends she had to go it alone in this new terrifying world, and soon learnt that the real monsters weren't the walking corpses. Struggling away from those that have wronged her will she be able to trust those that can help?
1. Chapter 1-monsters

tear droplets dripped from my pale cheeks onto my thin and baggy shirt. Every bump the wheels of my prison went over shot searing pain up my spine and caused unwanted memories to rise.

I shifted around the floor of the dark van for the hundredth time, searching for anything I could use to help me escape, but there was nothing. I could feel the bruises developing on my left shoulder from throwing myself against the metal doors which were all that stood between me and freedom whenever we stopped, unfortunately the noise of my attempts to escape didn't go unnoticed and I suffered for it.

I sat back down again wincing as my back leant against wall of the van, I had seen the bruises this morning, dark blue splashes spread across my back mixed in with scratches at random intervals. I shivered as more memories flickered through my mind, one lingered longer than the others. An odd memory of scraping branches flying past my face and raking along my arms and shoulders. I must have been sixteen in the memory, my horse had bolted while I was out trail rinding, I wonder what has happened to her in the past four months.

My thoughts turned to home, a place I'd never see again. I could always hope that things weren't so bad over there but I would never know. Taylor, Georgina, Grace, Cody, all of my little nieces were too young for this world. And what of my siblings? my parents? my friends? They were all on the other side of the world, there weren't any planes, and even if I found a boat I have no idea which way I'd have to sail.

More tears found their way down my face, _stop it_, I told myself, _you can't let them see you like this. _I wiped my face with the bottom of my shirt and tried to take my mind off of all of the things I had lost, unfortunately that was everything short of my actual life. Mindlessly I began to pick at the scabs on my knee, there wasn't much else to do but wait.

And so I waited, perhaps for an hour, maybe even longer, time doesn't really have meaning to me anymore. The van had come to a stop, the sound of people wandering around outside and talking drifted into my little cell.

"Do you think it'll be safe"

"No corpses"

"Which one?"

I listened as hard as I could, but only managed to catch snippets of the conversations going on outside.

I was suddenly blasted by a gust of cold air when the doors were opened and a rough hand grasped my upper arm, dragging me out of the van and into the crisp winter air. We had come to rest in a deserted town, broken glass occasionally littered the ground where windows had been broken. A small bike had been left lying on someones front yard. I shivered as the cold air pressed against my skin.

"Move!" The impatient young man that was currently manhandling me growled, pushing me forward.

Biting my tongue I moved in the direction he was shoving me. He wasn't particularly intimidating and I had a feeling that I could free myself from this guy pretty easily but that wouldn't help me against the other eight men in the group. "Hurry up." He complained, I ignored him taking in my surroundings.

I had been pushed towards an average looking house, the walls were made of your typical white wooden boards and the door was a pale green, not particularly fire proof but whatever, I guess that wasn't really an issue considering the world was over run with dead people. The man pushed me again this time pressing a bruise making me wince. This guy was so close to losing his pride and a few teeth.

"Could you not," I muttered under my breath as I walked through the door way finding myself in a narrow corridor.

I didn't look at the pictures on the wall as I passed them, it was better not to know who lived here before the virus spread.

The walls were a pleasant cream colour, a soft yellow that reminded me of summer mornings, the carpet however was not pleasant, covered in patches of blood as it was. I was once again pushed forward this time into a room with a comfortable looking bed and a chest of drawers, I turned around facing the infuriating man who had been pushing not only me but my buttons as well.

"Get changed." He commanded and threw something into my face before slamming the door shut.

I held the sickly short dress up to look at. _There is no way I'm wearing that, _I thought to myself throwing it to the side knowing that I most likely would be in the next hour, whether I wanted to or not. I looked around the room trying to find something to delay the inevitable reality of my fate. I decided to look at myself in the mirror. The bruises on my arms had become darker over the day, I also had dark rings under my eyes showing that I was indeed suffering from sleep deprivation.

_Well that's certainly not taking my mind off of this situation, _I scolded myself before swivelling to look out the window. A window? Am I stupid? Behind the house was a wooden fence, with an unlatched gate which was swinging back and forth from the wind, my brief moment of hope evaporated when I saw the corpses on the other side of the gate, there was a herd of them wandering down the street, probably in search of food. I couldn't risk them hearing the glass of the window pane shatter.

Sliding down the wall and onto the floor defeated, staring at the reflection of myself "Maria what are you going to do" I asked myself out loud. I couldn't take this anymore, I wouldn't take this anymore, perhaps it would be better to be ripped to pieces by corpses.

I heard quiet laughter and conversation flowing through the thin walls of the house and then I was inexplicably infuriated, as though all the torment of the past three months had built up a rage inside me that I could no longer hold back. I ripped the chest of drawers apart throwing parts of it everywhere smashing the mirror into pieces, and then as suddenly as the feeling had appeared it vanished, just like the sun peeking through a small gap in the clouds. I listened to the conversation continue on, apparently unfazed by my noisy break down, then I looked out of the window and was surprised to see one corpse wandering through the gate, perhaps it heard me trashing the place perhaps it just happened to wander into the yard.

As I stared at the approaching corpse an idea popped into my head, a really stupid and dangerous idea, but that wasn't going to stop me. I carefully walked over to the broken mirror and picked up a glass shard. I wrapped my left hand in the dress I had been given and took a deep breath as pressed the shard to my right forearm, _not to deep, not to deep, _exhaling I dragged the long ragged shard across my wrist and cursed at the pain. blood ran down my arm to my finger tips, quickly I ran my hand over the locked door and back to the window. I then tore a strip off of the sheets of the double bed and wrapped it firmly against the wound trying to stop the bleeding as much as possible. once that strip was soaked through I took it off and tucked it into the waistband of my shorts before wrapping another one around the wound.

I looked ouside, only one corpse to deal with in the yard, but I had to be quick. Picking up a draw that I had previously thrown I swung it at the window pane shattering the glass, I grabbed the glass shard with one end wrapped in a dress off of the bed and clambered out the window. The wind was working in my favour, carrying the scent of fresh blood to the passing herd that was now past the yard, the corpse that had managed to wander through the gate was already growling and stumbling towards me, acting swiftly I pressed the shard I was holding through its eye socket, racing across the yard I dropped the bloodied rag on another window sill and scrambled over the side fence and into the yard of the neighbouring house and continue to run and climb fences until I was beyond the herd which had turned back around and begun storming the groups safe haven after catching the scent of my blood. Crossing the street silently I ran into the night, hoping to never see the monsters that held me captive again.


	2. Chapter 2-Marathon

**Warning may contain spoilers for seasons one, two and possibly three**

_"I'll never understand what makes you all go so…. gooey, for want of a better word, over him" I looked over at my stunning companion. "Because it's Jason!" Jessica scolded me mockingly. We had both decided to enjoy the warm sunshine in the local park. "He's not even that attractive, he's also a massive dick." Jessica rolled her eyes at me. "You're honestly telling me that if he walked up to you and asked you to make out with him you'd refuse?" Jessica smirked at me._

_"I've already done that" "YOU DID WHAT?" Jessica shrieked in mock horror. "You have no idea what you're missing out on." she shook her head at me. "The germs of the other twenty girls in our year?" I playfully slapped her arm giggling at her indignant expression, "yours included." "At least I didn't make out with Jack Fraser." Jessica slapped me back smirking at me. "Oh my god, you make one mistake and it haunts you for the rest of your life." "You did it twice." Jessica corrected me quickly. "You make one mistake twice and it haunts you for the rest of your life." We both laughed at each other._

_It was such a lovely day, perfect for spending in the park with my golden haired companion. "Maria, isn't eighteen a little old for swings?" Jessica asked motioning to the swings we were currently rocking back and forth on slightly. "blasphemy," I gasped at my best friend," you can never be to old for the swings!" and we were both thrown back into hysterics. _

My frozen fingers grasped the rusty chain of an old swing set, keeping me upright as I convulsed, bringing up the little food I had in my stomach. Only I would be brought down by the common cold at the end of the world. It'd been a week since I escaped from that awful group, a week of constant running and hiding. In hindsight I should have known I was coming down with a cold considering I was so pale, I had just had so much on my mind I hadn't considered the possibility of actually getting sick.

I looked around me. I had managed to find my way into a park. A jungle gym was only five metres away from the swing I was currently using to stay upright. The light sprinkle of rain that had been falling all day was beginning to get heavier and I was all ready soaked through to the bone. Standing upright I grasped the heavy backpack that was slung across my back and forced myself to limp forward and up the small climbing frame in order to reach the top of the jungle gym.

I crawled into the yellow tube that connected the two sides of the structure and took my back pack off in order to grab a snack bar I had managed to cram inside it. After eating half of the bar, I wrapped the rest of it up and shoved it back into the bag before settling inside the tube,_ I'll just take a short rest until the rain clears_, I thought to myself.

"Rick," A gruff voice pulled me from my nightmarish sleep. My eyes snapped open quickly. _Shit. _"What is it?" a second voice called out. "tracks, human tracks." Slowly I pushed myself up out of the cramped position I had been sleeping in, being careful to not make a sound. I had slept on my right arm creating pins and needles from my elbow to my finger tips. "walker?" the second male, that I assumed was called Rick, asked as I squeezed my right hand gently, trying to bring feeling back into it.

"could be," I heard footsteps approaching from the direction I had come. Gently pushing my bag out of the tube in front of me, I began to creep away from the perilous situation I had so stupidly placed myself in. I grasped the large knife I had managed to find on one of the many shops I ransacked, and pulled it out of it's scabbard which I had placed in the elastic side pocket of my back pack. Clambering out of the tube I was grateful for the partially enclosed part of the structure.

"Don't think it was a walker" The first male stated, I froze in fear. "yeah, that's definitely not from a walker," Rick said. moving froward I crouched behind the covered wall before considering the rest of my plan. I knew that just beyond this little jungle gym there was a wooden fence that I should be able to scramble over, but I ran the risk of being shot or captured if I was to slow, but I didn't really have any other options.

_Fuck it, _I thought, and I bolted forward, flicking myself over the side of the slide and absorbing most of the impact on my left ankle, trying to protect my already sprained right one. My target was a mere ten metres away and I sprinted towards it quickly, ignoring my protesting lungs and ankle. I didn't look back, I didn't even listen for them, all of my attention was on the fence ahead of me. Finally reaching the fence I didn't slow as I bounded up and grasped the top of the fence, the force of my speed had already helped jump enough so that I had gotten my chest over it.

After a brief moment of kicking and pulling I fell into a pile on the other side of the fence. Forcing myself back onto my feet I ran forward again, I appeared to have ended up in a small back yard that was completely enclosed by a six foot tall fence. Other than the occasional garden bed the yard was pretty bare, the only other notable thing was a gate to my right. Deciding to keep moving I limped to the gate, opening it and bolting through quickly. In my hast I had failed to check for corpses, thankfully there was only one in the dingy alleyway I had ended up in. The corpse looked fairly fresh, meaning it would be a bitch to push my knife through its skull. Leaping forward with my knife in hand I sprang at the walking corpse, using the momentum to my advantage.

aiming for the eye socket I grasped its hair with my right hand, holding the head steady, and thrust my knife into the corpses face. My aim was true and the sharp knife slid into my adversary easily. Wrenching the knife out of the lifeless body I moved on, running to the end of the alley and rushing into the house to the left of the alley. The door had already been broken down so there was most likely no supplies left, I didn't really need supplies though, just a place to hide and catch my breath.

Finding myself in the kitchen I bent over, struggling to contain the coughing fit that had seized me. My lungs felt like they were on fire and my chest ached with every cough. Finally getting my breathing under controlled, I crept out the kitchen window, which had mercifully already been broken. Sneaking back around the house silently, I peeked around the corner. Two men were approaching the front door of the house I had just vacated.

Both seemed fairly fit, one holding a nasty looking crossbow and the other had a gun with some long attachment on it, _weird_. "they went inside" the guy with a crossbow stated, "reckon they're dangerous?" The second one asked. The other shrugged in reply, moving into the house. His companion followed suit. I took a deep breath. Silently, I crept across the front lawn, peeking quickly through the doorway, they had already entered the kitchen. Running back past the alley way and down the cracked footpath I searched for a chance to escape this awful mess.

I was to exhausted to keep going like this for long, my vision was hazy already and my lungs couldn't take much more. My right ankle, which I had sprained a few days ago, was screaming at me to stop, but there was nothing else I could really do. Or so I thought, until my attention was grabbed by a silver ute left abandoned in someones driveway. It was a Dodge Ram. I had one of these back home. Running to the right side of the car I peeked through the window. _Dammit, wrong side. _Crawling around to the other side of the vehicle, I peered into the window. The keys were in the ignition, with, who I guess was there previous owner, who was looking at me, hungrily.

Trying the door handle, I was shocked to find it locked, poor bastard must have locked himself in the car and waited to die. Muttering in annoyance, I fished through my bag, gathering the tools I would need to open up the door. I pulled a bobby pin and a tension wrench out of my back pack and began to fiddle with the lock furiously. Dad had gotten sick of breaking into my car and getting my keys out for me whenever I locked them inside the car, embarrassingly it was quite often, so he decided to teach me how to do it.

Hearing a satisfying click, I felt a small amount of hope build in my chest. Followed shortly by a large amount of fear stirring in my stomach when the car alarm started going off. _Are you shitting me. _Cursing my poor lock picking ability, I raced to the front of the car and raised the bonnet. There must be a fault in the timer, If I had set the alarm off it should have gone before I picked the lock. Grumbling I found the all too familiar wire creating the ruckus and cut it sharply with my knife.

Then something grasped my arm and pulled me back. Reacting more out of reflex then thought, I kicked out, hitting my assailant in his nether regions. A stream of cuss words fell out of the large man with a crossbows mouth, and I kicked him again, this time in the head, hoping to knock him unconscious. Before turning and bolting back down the driveway. "Stop." I looked in horror at the man in front of me with his oddly shaped gun.

With that I was bent over double coughing harshly, and trying not to vomit. _Fuck me. _Shakily standing I noticed a congregation of people had gathered behind the man in front of me, mostly men but there were two women there as well. "Well, are you gonna shoot me." I challenged the leader, glaring into his eyes.

** Author's note: Hi so incase you were wondering this story is taking place between seasons two and three. I've also decided that each chapter from now on should start with a flashback to my OC's past. Please let me know what you think of the flash backs and the sorts of things that would interest you about her past. Thank you so much for the reviews and follows :)**


	3. Chapter 3-Help

_"Maria!" "Maria!" I opened my eyes slowly, groaning in pain. I was surrounded by, what appeared to be, people, I couldn't really tell though, my eyesight was to blurry. For all I knew I was surrounded by aliens. "Maria, are you okay?" A familiar voice asked."What the fuck do you think!" I snapped at my best friend, remembering the events that lead to my unconscious state. I scowled half heartedly, "Do you have any idea how hard your elbow is?" _

_Jessica sighed, "she's alright." her crouching form shifted and she was standing in front of me. I took the hand she offered, swaying a bit on my feet. "Am I bleeding?" I asked feeling and odd sensation running down my right cheek. Jessica scrunched her face up in disgust, "yea a bit." I shook my head at my friend. _

_A brief wave of nausea passed through me, Jessica catching me before I toppled over, concern smothering her face. "I'm fine, just don't feel well." I smiled back at her weakly. "bullshit Mar! you're as white as a ghost." Sighing I allowed her to lead me back to the bench, followed by an entourage of people, mostly my team mates. Our coach, Raymond Dreaver was waiting with a clean cloth, presumably for the gushing wound right above my temple. _

_"When I found out I was getting both of you girls I was relieved, I figured that since you were on the same team you wouldn't be injuring each other left, right and centre." Raymond shook his head at us. "C'mon you two, off the court so they can continue playing." Jessica and I sat down on the bench, "Hey Troy! Bring the blood bucket!" he called to his youngest son. "How do you feel Maria?" "Like I'm going to throw up." _

_"Could be a concussion," Raymond hummed. "And that cut looks pretty serious, Are your parents home?" "No they're away for the week," I mumbled feeling dizzy again. "Do you have ambulance cover?" My throat tightened, I hated doctors. "Y- yes" I stuttered, "I'll go with her, my parents won't mind, I'll give them a call now." Jessica squeezed my shoulder and I looked at her thankfully. _

_What would I do without my best friend I thought smiling to myself._

Pain stirred me from my unconscious state, I couldn't pinpoint where exactly the pain was coming from, all I knew was it hurt. Slowly my sense began to come back to me. My wrists were tightly bound together behind my back, pressing into something relatively soft, like a mattress. The pain that had roused me seemed to be radiating from my head, though there were other places that ached dully.

I thought back to the last things I remembered. A man pointing his gun at me, dizziness, then nothing. I wiggled my fingers, which were mildly numb from being cramped under neath my body for a while. The fabric felt like bed sheets, perhaps I was on a mattress.

An image flashed in my mind of purple sheets, opening my eyes I saw the sickly familiar room. The sheets my unconscious body had been thrown on were a pale purple, the wooden floor a dark brown and led to a looming figure at the end of the bed I was currently sprawled across. The young mans smirk was threatening and sent chills down my spine, his short black hair framed his face and his hazel eyes swam over me hungrily.

Pure terror. That's all I felt.. Forcing myself up and off the bed, ignoring the searing pain that radiated from all over my body, I landed hard on the floor, face first of course, and wriggled away from the monster before me. Tears had found there way down my face as he approached slowly, forcing me into the corner of the room. I screwed my eyes shut, trying to control my fear.

Opening my eyes once more I looked up into the concerned face of an elderly man. His hands were up, showing his intentions were peaceful, I looked around me quickly, I had been laying on a small bed, with plain white sheets. My breathing was still erratic and I could feel violent tremors running through my body.

Damn flashbacks, I inwardly scolded myself for letting my fears get the better of me. I looked back at the man suspiciously. He seemed to sense the change inn my emotions as he stepped back looking less concerned. "I'm Hershal, I was just about to treat your wounds," he stated softly, "I'm not going to hurt you, do you understand?" I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. _ Cause you'd tell me if you were,_ I thought sarcastically.

I felt something warm and wet drip down my face and the pain in my nose suddenly hit me. Cringing I cursed softly, I'd never gotten a blood nose before, and I've taken many blows to the poor facial structure over the past twenty eight years of my life. I probably broke it when I fell off of the bed. "Here let me help you." I judged the man silently, flinching when he moved closer. He seemed genuinely concerned for my health, and I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter anyway, it wasn't like I could do anything with my hands bound behind me.

"Fine," I said curtly, and he walked forward reaching for my face, halting when I once again flinched from his touch. His hands were gentle and cool, though the slight amount of pressure he placed on my face was agonising, so much so that I swore loudly. Hershal gave me a disapproving look, which I ignored entirely. Too bad if he thought i was being rude, he wasn't the one tied up.

After a brief examination of the bloodied nose he confirm my suspicions, "that's definatly a break," he mused motioning for me to move back to the bed. I hesitantly did as I was bid and sat on the edge of the comfortable mattress. Picking up the bucket of clean water and a clean cloth he focused himself on removing blood and dirt from my filthy face.

Hershal paused when my face scrunched up oddly, "what's wrong?" he asked concerned. "I need to sneeze," I winced at the pain of pulling faces with a broken nose. "I wouldn't suggest it." He stated simply. _No shit, _I thought bitterly. unfortunately sometimes these things cant be controlled, twisting my face over my shoulder, out of habitual politeness, I sneezed, winced in pain and started having a coughing fit.

He waited patiently for me to finish and began wiping the fresh blood that had begun to flow once again from my nose. "Have you been in contact with people recently." I looked at him oddly, wondering why he'd ask such an odd question. "you have a cold, it would make sense that you caught it from being around other people." I shivered involuntarily. "Yes" I stated simply observing his response.

He tensed slightly, a hint of suspicion reaching his eyes, understandable I suppose. "Were you part of a group?" "Yes." This answer seemed to unsettle him even more. Not wishing to worsen the situation I was in I decided to be clear. "We were separated a week ago, by a herd of corpses." "And you couldn't find them?" His face softened again and I shifted uncomfortably. "Not exactly, I have seen them again, I just didn't want to." The old mans expression changed to confusion. "I've been running from them, I… disagreed with there morals." I explained briefly.

He nodded, "that would explain your exhausted state." I started slightly, _I passed out, from exhaustion! My god that's embarrassing, _I thought to myself. "How much sleep have you had in the past week?" "A few hours here and there" I grumbled back, I was beginning to tire of this examination. "I'm going to have to set your nose now. It's going to hurt." I nodded my understanding and inhaled slowly, controlling my nerves. He was quick and set my nose well, it still hurt though.

"Son of a gun," I whispered under my breath. "Where are you from?" Hershal asked moving on to the cuts and bruises he had found under a the layer of dirt that had been smeared across my face. "Australia," I muttered suddenly feeling home sick. "What you doing all the way out here." I scowled a little, not impressed with the topic of conversation, "I don't see how my personal details is at all relevant to your job." I replied coldly.

Hershal remained silent for quite a while after my statement, clearly he wasn't oblivious to a persons mood. "I'm going to need to untie your hands so I can examine your arms properly, I'll need another person in here with me though, is that ok?" He asked quietly. I shrugged, it didn't matter either way. "Maggie," he called towards the doorway, and immediately a young woman with shoulder length brown hair stepped through the doorway. She was well armed and appeared to be quite fit, a refreshing change to all of the other women I've seen since the apocalypse.

She stepped forward, regarding me with suspicion, I returned her stare coldly, not showing any emotion as Hershal untied my hands. Slowly, so as not to startle the woman who was armed, I moved my hands in front of me, stretching them out painfully. Hershal began cleaning again, first my left arm, then my right one. Noticing the dirt covered bandage, which was only a day old despite how disgustingly filthy it was, Hershal looked at me questioningly before removing the bandage.

The skin beneath was, thankfully, clean. The stitches that I had manage to do myself, after a couple of mouthfuls of whiskey (nothing like a touch of Dutch courage to get the job done) were neat and the wound on my wrist seemed to be healing well. "Who fixed this up for you?" Hershal asked. "Me." I replied shortly. Observing my handiwork, the old man nodded "I'm impressed." He said before finding a clean bandage and re dressing it.

Finishing off with my arms, he moved onto my legs, cleaning up the grazes that were looking a little infected. "Any other injuries?" Hershal questioned me, I shook my head, not bothering with a verbal response. I didn't need him poking around my ankles just right now. "Alright" he sighed heavily, retying my hands and leaving the room.

**AN:Sorry this chapter seems to be a little boring compared to the last two, I couldn't really see a way past this part, and I feel that her interactions with Hershal may be important later on down the line, If you found this chapter boring I apologise, I will back with some more action next week I promise. Special thanks to my sister silent-pack for beta reading this chapter for me.**


	4. Chapter 4-Yoga

**AN: So I don't usually do this at the start of chapters but I would like to clear up something before you read it. This character is Australian, please keep in mind that flip flops or jandals are referred to as thongs in Australia. Any other terminology issues please let me know.**

**Also a huge thank you to those following, favouriting and reviewing :) **

_The sounds of car tyres against gravel travelled into my house through the open kitchen window. Flywire covered the opening, keeping the noisy blowflies outside where they belong. I looked up from the book I had been reading just in time to witness Jackyboy, my faithful blue heeler, tear through the kitchen and dive through his doggy door. Moments later his distinctive yapping could be heard, the usual greeting for guests I suppose. _

_Inserting my bookmark into the dreary book and placing it on the table, making a mental note to take the dully written work of fiction to the salvo's when I was done, I made my way out of the kitchen and towards my front door. _

_Tippy, my old Golden retriever, groaned in annoyance as I stepped past her head, obviously Jackyboy had disturbed her afternoon nap. "Some guard dog you are," I scoffed at the dog nudging her playfully with my foot as I went past, slipping my thongs on._

_Opening the front door I was greeted with a pleasant surprise. I smirked at the bright red Jeep Wrangler, "Do you guys think this is a holiday inn or something?" I shouted across the empty yard. Jackyboy was rushing over to the car, his tail threatening to fly off, he was wagging it that hard. _

_"Holiday?" Peter scoffed, "every time we come out here you give us more work then what we have at home."_

_"Well imagine how much work I'm doing when you guys aren't visiting," I smirked at the man as he pulled out his daughter's small suitcase. _

_"Aunty Maria!" The little four year old squealed when her mother placed her on the ground. I smiled warmly scooping the tiny girl up into my arms and holding her in a tight embrace, whilst simultaneously trying to keep Jackyboy at bay. _

_"What do you feed that dog?" That all too familiar voice called out to me. "Come on Laura, help your dad carry your bag inside." Jessica scolded her daughter. I smiled smugly at the tall blonde as she approached the verandah I was currently standing on. _

_"Tired of the city again are we?" Jessica rolled her eyes at me._

_"We can't all live in the country, can we?" I smiled and ushered the family into my, for once, tidy house. _

_"Oh my god!" Jessica exclaimed in mock horror, "call the police, all your stuff is missing." _

_"Laura, your mother is mean, you know that right." Laura giggled cheekily, nodding in response, earning herself a light tap across the back of her head, _

_"You go put your stuff away," Jessica smiled at her daughter. "C'mon Maria, lets go for a quick walk."_

_After a quick change of footwear, since thongs were hardly appropriate for walking through a farm, Jessica and I were slowly making our way over to the horse shed. "Maria?" _

_"Yes"_

_"When was the last time you had a holiday?" Jessica asked. I thought for a brief second and opened my mouth to respond. "I don't just mean from the veterinary clinic." Jessica cut me off._

_I sighed, "Not since I bought this place four years ago," I admitted gruffly. I didn't mind working all the time, I enjoyed spending most of my time outside, grooming horses or tending to my cattle. I've always wanted to dedicate my life to animals and now I have. Jessica on the other hand worried about the amount of time I spent working._

_"I think you should come away with me in August. Just you and me, I've saved up enough to go to America for a month and I want you to join me and..." _

_"Jessica, you know I can't afford it." _

_"Let me finish, I've also saved up enough to take you with me." I smiled warmly at my friend shaking my head, I couldn't accept her hard earn cash. "It'll be my early birthday present to you and my payment for teaching Laura to ride." Jessica smiled at me._

_I thought for a second, the offer was very tempting but… "who would take care of the farm?" I asked. Jessica grinned, I knew in her eyes that was close enough to a yes. _

_"Peter can, he's already got that time off. I've also talked to your brother and he said that he could help him out since he's out for the rest of the season." I chewed my lip thoughtfully. _

_Those two were pretty capable, and I did like the idea of traveling over seas for the first time in my life. "Alright Jess," I sighed feigning defeat. "If I must." _

_Jessica slapped my shoulder playfully, "Don't be so dramatic, it'll be fun." I grinned back at the golden haired woman and I couldn't help but feel as though I was the most fortunate person in the whole world to have found such a great friend._

"It'll be fun she said," I muttered darkly to myself, wriggling my arms around to see if i could loosen my bonds. Sadness twanged through me momentarily as the memories of all I had lost played through my mind. I had been left alone after Hershal had tended to my wounds. Maggie had left with him, though I doubted she was far from the wooden door that stood between me and freedom. I sighed and stopped squirming, the ropes had been tied well, unfortunately. Pushing myself up into a sitting position against the bed head, I assessed my situation.

I was tied up well, meaning the only way out of the rope was to cut it. Obviously I had been searched and stripped of my weapons. Although…. I pressed the outside of my left foot against the bed. I almost shouted in triumph when I felt the small wooden pocket knife pressing against my skin. They mustn't have searched my shoes and socks, morons.

Sitting back up properly, I looked around. To the left of me there was an averaged sized window, definitely big enough to crawl out of, though by the looks of it I wasn't on the first floor of the building. I chewed my lip thoughtfully, my ankle couldn't really take another long drop like that, I'd need to think of another way.

Just as I was contemplating getting up and exploring my 'holding cell' I heard the door across from me open. A man, probably in his mid to late thirties walked into the room purposefully. He had a very serious expression plastered across his face and I quickly recognise him as the man who had pointed his gun at me.

His brown hair was unruly and his face seemed to be smeared with dirt and sweat. Despite his messy and unkempt appearance a sense of authority seemed to waft off him. _ This would be the leader then, _I thought, preparing myself for whatever was about to come. His eyes swept around the room quickly before he locked his gaze onto mine, _so this was how it was going to be then huh? _Accepting his unspoken challenge I stared back defiantly, I would not be perceived as weak nor would I be perceived as cowardly, if he thought I was either then he might try to take advantage of that.

I had the sudden urge to poke my tongue out at him and I quickly locked my inner child away in an imaginary box, now was not the time. The leader seemed content with our 'staring contest' and moved towards the end of the bed, just out of reach of my legs I noted. "Who are you?" He asked.

I considered him for a second and deciding it would be in my best interest to cooperate (for now) I answered. "Maria." I looked back at my captor coldly.

"Well Maria," the man paused for a moment, again locking his gaze on mine, "Hershal tells me that you were part of a group, until recently." _I would not show weakness. _

I kept my expression blank, "that's correct."

He considered me for a moment, "are they dangerous?" I thought for a second, choosing my words carefully, not wishing to cause this situation to become any worse.

"That depends."

"on?"

"How many people are in the group now and how well trained your own people are." He thought over my answer.

"How many in this group?"

"Before I was separated there were nine men in total, but the last time I saw them I only counted five."

"how many women?"

I scoffed at his question, earning myself an odd look. "I'm not sure, I was… kept separate from the other women, I was a 'bad influence' on them," I smirked, I had to admit that I prided myself on being a nuisance to terrible people.

"What makes them dangerous?"

"They believe solely in survival of the fittest, they don't care whether other people suffer and they certainly do not hold any strong morals." I stated calmly. He nodded thoughtfully and without another word turned and strode out of the room. _What an odd man. _

Once again finding myself alone I decided to explore the room. Awkwardly wiggling off of the bed i limped over to the window and peered out of it. The window sill was fairly large and made of bricks, as was all of the outside walls. Just above the window i could see the protruding gutter, which despite months of neglect seemed to be fairly well intact.

Making my way back towards the bed I noticed that the top sheets were not tucked in properly and hung all the way down to the floor. getting down onto my knees, I pushed the light sheets aside with my head and peered underneath the bed. There was just enough room for me to wiggle underneath_. Perfect,_ an impish grin found it's way onto my face. Now all I had to do is wait.

When night fell I heard the creaking of footsteps as everybody simultaneously left the place they had been eating their tea. I had listened to the sound of footsteps just past my doorway, and it seemed as though the person on watch was pacing. A few hours after everyone had apparently gone to sleep, a new set of footsteps approached. There was a brief period of silence followed by the sound of two people walking in the opposite direction. One seemingly exited this floor and went down a creaky set of stairs whilst the other walked past my door and stopped not too far away.

Most likely their was a hallway connecting rooms and the person on watch had decided to sit at the end of it. Considering I was unarmed and they would most likely have a gun, it seemed to be a better option than being near the door and allowing me to have a chance, even if it was minuscule.

Deciding now was as good a time as any and leaned my hands behind me contorting my body awkwardly so as to reach the hidden pocket knife in my shoe. _thank god for yoga, _I thought as I managed to wiggle my fingers into the boot and pull out the little knife. propping myself up against the bed head, incase some one decided to check on me, I awkwardly twisted my hand back and began sawing into the thick rope.

_This always seems so simple in the movies, _I thought ruefully. Finally feeling the rope loosen around my wrists i pulled it off and continued on with the rest of my plan. Throwing the broken rope carelessly on the bedroom floor, halfway between the window and the bed, I crept silently across the floorboard, waiting for something to give me away, a creak or a coughing fit, that would be my luck.

Reaching the window I lifted my right leg and kicked as hard as I could against the glass. It took another go before the window pane gave out and as soon as it did I dove under the bed and waited, hoping that this would work. Seconds later the bedroom door flew open and the sound of rushing footsteps flew towards the window. "shit, " an unfamiliar voice cursed, most likely as he looked through the broken window. A smile found it's way onto my face as the sounds of chaos ensued.


	5. Chapter 5-Hide and Seek

_"Has anyone seen Maria?" Jacob asked. I stifled a giggle as I listened watched the other kids searching for me. I love hide and seek, I was amazing at it, mostly because of my ability to squeeze through any gap and climb the most difficult trees. _

_I watched as Jodie Green crawled into the jungle gym, joining the rest of the kids searching for me. The tin roof of the shelter shed I had managed to climb onto was right next to a group of trees, no one has ever thought to climb onto the shed's roof before so I could stay up here all recess and I'd probably never be found. _

_After about ten minutes of waiting I had gotten board so I climbed back down the trees and crept around the front of the building. "hey everyone," I grinned brightly at the kids who were still looking around the playground. "couldn't find me huh?" I stuck out , my tongue cheekily and ran away from the horde of twelve year olds that decided to chase me down._

* * *

The floor was dusty and if I didn't move soon I was going to sneeze. Unfortunately right now there was seven people in the room, all of them arguing about what they were going to do. "Why don't we just leave her?" A woman asked.

"She could be dangerous," the leader replied, I imagined he was pinching his nose in frustration.

"How dangerous could she be?" The man who was on watch asked.

"She broke my nose!" A familiar voice growled, the guy with the crossbow, Daryl I think his name was.

"Look, I don't think she'll get far, when I examined her she was exhausted, she still hasn't had enough to eat to sustain her and she was carrying many injuries. " Hershall stated calmly. Was that man always calm? He was right of course, at least about half of it, I was in no condition to be on the road, that's why I was stuck under here in the first place.

"You're right. Here's what we are going to do, Glenn and T-Dog, you're going to keep watch out front, make sure she doesn't try to double back and attack or rob us. Maggie, Hershall and Lorrie, I want you to stay with Carol, Beth and Carl, some of us need to sleep. Daryl, you're with me."

Floorboards creaked loudly as everyone dispersed, I waited in silence, unsure as to whether I was alone. After a few seconds a soft creaking of the floorboard told me that I had made the right decision, not moving, despite the tingling sensation in my nose. pinching my nose gently I willed myself not to sneeze.

"How did she get out of the rope?" The leader wondered aloud, moving towards where I had thrown the rope in question.

"Looks like it's been cut with something." Daryl stated, _no shit _I thought to myself.

"Yea but with what? We searched her and took all her weapons away"

"Who searched her?"

"T-Dog,"

"Maybe he didn't search everywhere, cause this looks like a knife was used."

"C'mon, get a torch we'll start looking for tracks."

Their footsteps traveled through the door, followed by a soft click as the door was shut. I listened as the two men waked down the staircase and decided to wait a little longer. After five minutes passed I dragged myself out from underneath the bed and quietly walked over too the window.

A bright yellow light was travelling around the side of the building, only the slightest hint of moonlight was present. I looked back into the room I was currently in and realised that I could barely make anything out. There was a large fuzzy shape that I assumed to be the bed and I couldn't really differentiate the door from the wall. Hearing voices, I turned back to the scene below and focused on the conversation between the two men.

"I'm telling you there are no tracks." Daryl said.

"but it's just mud down here." The leader said rubbing his hand over his face.

"Rick, I'm telling you, there's no tracks ."

_So his name's Rick, I'll remember that._

Rick sighed, and I ducked back behind the wall as he pulled his flashlight upwards. "She must have climb onto the roof then." He said and the beam of light shifted back down to the ground. _shit, how had I forgotten that one of them could track. _I mentally slapped myself for overlooking that issue before slowly and carefully making my way towards the door. I had to get out of this room.

Reaching the door I slowly twisted the handle and opened it, thankful for the lack of squeaky hinges. My heart was pounding in my chest and my stomach twisted uncomfortably, I inwardly scoffed as I thought about how I used to associate that feeling with going on dates. Cautiously, I closed the door, not wishing to announce my presence. Thankfully, everyone had gone down stairs since it appeared that there was no need to keep watch upstairs.

Creeping across the hall like a burglar, the sound of voices alarmed me, hopefully they were still at the front door and were just informing their friends of their theory. As fear bubbled in my throat I reached out my trembling hand and gently twisted the door knob. Silently rejoicing when the door clicked open, I quietly slid through the door and shut it carefully.

From the vague shapes I could see I appeared to be in an office. The low square shape to my left seemed to be a desk and the room was small and cosy. There was also I light feeling to the floor, like carpet. Sliding down the door quietly and sitting on the floor I waited for my heart to stop racing. Each pulse felt like a base drum was being beaten right next to me.

The soft thuds of the two men's footsteps met my ears, indicating that they were now climbing the staircase. Hearing the door across from me open and close I breathed a sigh of relief and heaved myself back onto my feet. The window across from me seemed to be more illuminated then it was previously, perhaps it was later than I thought.

Moving swiftly, I crossed the room and cautiously peered out of the window. This one was slightly smaller than the one in my holding cell. To the right of the window I could just make out a tall tree, it's limbs seemed to be fairly thick and it was quite possibly reachable from the window of the room next door, assuming the window was big enough for me to squeeze through, not one of those bathroom windows.

Slowly walking back to the door, I waited for the two men to give me any hint on what they were now doing. My body was aching and I was beginning to tire from the events of the past week, but after what seemed like hours, the two men burst out of the room and charged down the stairs. _Not a good sign. _But I didn't have time to waste.

Opening the door a little more recklessly this time since there was quite a commotion down stairs, I bolted down the hallway to the next door, vaguely noting that it seemed to be lighter all of a sudden. Shutting the door behind me, I almost screamed in delight.

Just across from me was another window, which had already been broken. I could hardly believe my luck, as I crossed what appeared to be a guest bedroom. Light was beginning to spill through the window, casting a dull light over the dreary room. The sky was still a steely grey, there was probably a storm coming.

As I leaned out of the window making sure there was nobody around I heard hurried footsteps traveling into the hallway.

"Okay everyone, find a door." Rick ordered.

My stomach began doing somersaults as I hurried out of the window and into the sturdy tree adjacent to it. Adrenaline propelled me down the tree and as I hit the ground I had to use all my will to stop myself from bolting towards the neighbouring houses. Crouching I pressed my shoulder against the tree trunk and forced my tangled thoughts to slow down so I could go through them one at a time.

_I couldn't just charge across to the next house, they have guns, they could shoot me on sight._

_I couldn't stay here, eventually they would come looking for me._

_There were six rooms in that hallway, that means seven or eight people will be busy (since I assume they left at least one person on watch.)_

_that means, going by what I heard whilst under that dusty bed, there are two or three people unaccounted for._

Inhaling deeply and swallowing my nerves I pressed myself against the wall of the house and crept quietly underneath the window, hoping no one was looking out of it at that moment. Cautiously I poked my head around the corner and since there was no one here my body soon followed suit.

There was a small picket fence separating the backyard of this building and, what seemed to be, the main street of the town we were in. There were four windows that had view of the back yard, but the run was significantly shorter and I didn't really have much of a choice anymore, so I ran.

Hoping over the fence quickly, I struck out towards the road, hoping my shoes weren't leaving an incriminating trail behind. Reaching the road I stopped momentarily looking for a good place to hide. I decided that the looted clothing shop seemed to be my best bet and I quickly made my way into the trashed place.

Random items of clothing were strewn across the floor, with the occasional splatter of dried blood hinting at the madness that occurred here. The store was quite large and even had a staircase leading to a second floor. First though I decided to take a look at the serving counter. Most of the food seemed to have been ransacked, which wasn't all that surprising, though there were a few chocolate bars that were lying forgotten on the floor.

Sweeping up the rare find I made my way back to the staircase with my knife drawn. I had to clear the building and in my opinion it was always best to start at the top and work down. I stuffed the delicious bars of chocolate into my bra, in case I needed both of my hands. A small smile briefly flickered onto my features when I thought about how my mother used to crack it with me for tucking my phone into my bra. It didn't last very long though, since I remembered I'd never see her again.

Deciding to check the change rooms first I slowly approached the walled off area, briefly scanning the mostly open room around me. As I approached the first change room, I noted that there were four stalls, one of which was locked. Cautiously pushing the first door open, I winced as a loud ear splitting groan was emitted from the doors unused hinges.

A thump came from the locked stall, but at that moment a trapped corpse wasn't my main concern. Though the stall I had checked was empty, it seemed that the other two unlocked ones were not. Hearing the screech of unoiled metal coming from behind me, I leapt to the side whilst simultaneously ducking low, just missing a reaching hand.

The decomposing stench of a corpse filled my nostrils, but I fought back the urge to gag and lunged at my assailant. Pulling my arm back from the stilled rotten body I began wiping the blade on my already filthy shorts, not really trying to clean the blade, just steel my nerves for my next battle with the dead.

Crouching low, I backed away from the towering monster that stood before me. The decaying form of a six foot seven man lumbered after me. A torn leather jacket hung from his shoulders and I briefly wondered why some one who looked as though they had walked off of the set of a biker movie would shop at a place like this. I was short, I always had been and I was used to fighting people taller than me, but this was a completely different story.

I'd probably have to jump upwards to even hit him in the head, never mind having enough force to penetrate is skull. My flimsy little pocket knife was not the ideal weapon against a beast so big. So, doing the only sensible thing I could think of, I turned and made a hasty retreat down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, I decided that perhaps the giant upstairs wasn't too much of a hassle, given that my other option was a whole herd of corpses.

The whole, street was filled with aimlessly wandering bodies, thankfully none had seen me bolting down the stairs, even the ones that had managed to wander in through the broken windows. Taking a deep breath I turned in time to watch the near comical event of the massive corpse tumble down the stairs.

Apparently he had not been one to give up on a meal easily and so decided to follow his prey. Using the opportune moment to shove my tiny blade through his eye socket, I crouched down momentarily getting my bearings. There was no way I could go out the front of the store, but perhaps there was a back door that wasn't blocked by a group of walkers. Glancing up at the front of the store I realised that I didn't have any time to search the building for a possible exit right now.

More corpses had been drawn into the store by the racket that had been made, and those that had already been in the shop were now making their way towards me. Turning on my heel I bolted back up the stairs and turned sharply towards the change room, skidding to a stop when I came face to face with the barrel of a gun.

* * *

**AN: Hey guys, sorry about the wait, I all of a sudden adopted a social life for a few days over new years. Then I decided to be extremely productive with everything except story writing :/**

**Anyway, hope you had a happy new year (I know it's a little late).**

**Who do you think it is in the end, please let me know. I'd love to hear any theory's you might have :)**


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